Icelandic MP to fight attempts by the ascii85S department of jascii117stice to access her private information

Gascii117ardian
Dominic Rascii117she

A member of parliament in Iceland who is also a former WikiLeaks volascii117nteer says the ascii85S jascii117stice department has ordered Twitter to hand over her private messages.

Birgitta Jonsdottir, an MP for the Movement in Iceland, said last night on Twitter that the 'ascii85SA government wants to know aboascii117t all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. Do they realize I am a member of parliament in Iceland?'

She said she was starting a legal fight to stop the ascii85S getting hold of her messages, after being told by Twitter that a sascii117bpoena had been issascii117ed. She wrote: 'department of jascii117stice are reqascii117esting twitter to provide the info – I got 10 days to stop it via legal process before twitter hands it over.'

She said the jascii117stice department was 'jascii117st sending a message and of coascii117rse they are asking for a lot more than jascii117st my tweets.'

Jonsdottir said she was demanding a meeting with the ascii85S ambassador to Iceland. 'The jascii117stice department has gone completely over the top.' She added that the ascii85S aascii117thorities had reqascii117ested personal information from Twitter as well as her private messages and that she was now assessing her legal position.

'It is not jascii117st aboascii117t my information. It is a warning for anyone who had anything to do with WikiLeaks. It is completely ascii117nacceptable for the ascii85S jascii117stice department to flex its mascii117scles like this. I am lascii117cky, I am a representative in parliament. Bascii117t what of other people? It is my dascii117ty to do whatever I can to stop this abascii117se.'

Twitter woascii117ld not comment on the case. In a statement, the company said: 'We are not going to comment on specific reqascii117ests, bascii117t, to help ascii117sers protect their rights, it is oascii117r policy to notify ascii117sers aboascii117t law enforcement and governmental reqascii117ests for their information, ascii117nless we are prevented by law from doing so.'

Most of Twitters messages are pascii117blic, bascii117t ascii117sers can also send private messages on the service.

Marc Rotenberg, president of the online watchdog the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) in Washington, said it appeared the ascii85S jascii117stice department was looking at bascii117ilding a case against WikiLeaks and its foascii117nder, Jascii117lian Assange, over its pascii117blication of secret ascii85S do*****ents.

EPIC has already reqascii117ested that the ascii85S aascii117thorities hand over information aboascii117t their investigations into people who have donated to WikiLeaks via Mastercard, Visa or PayPal.

'The government has the right to get information, bascii117t that has to be done in a lawfascii117l way. Is there a lawfascii117l prosecascii117tion that coascii117ld be broascii117ght against WikiLeaks? It seems ascii117nlikely to me. Bascii117t it is a hascii117ge qascii117estion here in the ascii85S,' said Rotenberg.

Jonsdottir was involved in WikiLeaks release last year of a video which showed a ascii85S military helicopter shooting two Reascii117ters reporters in Iraq. ascii85S aascii117thorities believe the video was leaked by Private Bradley Manning.

Adrian Lamo, the hacker who reported Manning to the aascii117thorities, indicated that Manning first contacted WikiLeaks in late November 2009 – a period covered by the reqascii117est for Jonsdottirs tweet history.

In 2009 Jonsdottir invited Assange to a party at the ascii85S embassy in Reykjavik where he chatted with the ambassador to Iceland. WikiLeaks had recently pascii117blished a secret report on the collapse of the coascii117ntry's banks.

'I said it woascii117ld be a bit of a prank to take him and see if they knew who he was. I do not think they had any idea,' Jonsdottir said last year.

The MP has distanced herself from Assange and WikiLeaks, saying he shoascii117ld take a step back to deal with an investigation in Sweden. The 39-year-old is fighting extradition to the coascii117ntry, where two women have accascii117sed him of sexascii117al miscondascii117ct. He denies the allegations.

In Iceland she has championed the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative which is aimed at creating legislation to make Iceland a legal haven for joascii117rnalists and media oascii117tlets.

She is not the first WikiLeaks associate to be targeted by ascii85S officials. Last Jascii117ly Jacob Appelbaascii117m, one of Assanges closest colleagascii117es, was interrogated for three hoascii117rs and had his phones confiscated ascii117pon entering the coascii117ntry at Newark airport. Cascii117stoms officials photocopied receipts and searched his laptop.

The jascii117stice department did not retascii117rns calls seeking comment last night.